You are here

Blog

In 2011, brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) was first confirmed in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Since then, live detections have been confirmed in 19 Iowa counties. These stink bugs have been found in and around human structures, mostly homes in urban areas. I don’t know of any BMSB specimens found in...

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach will offer a Field Crop Scout School on Saturday, Mar. 25, at the Scheman Building in Ames. Designed for beginning crop scouts, the day-long course features sessions on crop growth and development, weed, disease and insect identification, along with...

“History is largely a record of human struggle to wrest the land from nature, because man relies for sustenance on the products of the soil. So direct, is the relationship between soil erosion, the productivity of the land, and the prosperity of people, that the history of mankind, to a...

I've been asked several times at meetings this winter if it would be possible to identify Palmer amaranth in conservation plantings at this time of year. My response has been 'I think so, but I've never tried'. To avoid having to use that answer in the future, I went to a field planted to...

Making sound soil fertility management decisions is an important part of successful crop production, on both an economic and environmental level. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach will be offering a two-day short course focusing on principles of soils, soil fertility and nutrient...

If you grow soybean your help is needed. We are asking for yields and management information that is used for your soybean fields. The goal behind this project identify key factors that prohibit soybean farmers from obtaining yields that are potentially attainable on their respective farms. Or...

I recently had a discussion with a farmer regarding the Palmer problem, and he asked if I were 'King for a Day' how would I change Iowa's noxious weed law. I came up with four suggestions regarding classifying weeds as noxious:

Soil Temperature at the 4-inch depth is important to crop establishment even though seed placement is usually at depths of less than 2 inches. Soil temperature of below 50F is important to responsible fall anhydrous application. The estimated county soil temperature in Iowa is derived from...

People involved in weed management for at least 20 years probably remember corn being damaged by glyphosate drift when Roundup Ready soybean were first introduced. The extensive damage was due to the high susceptibility of corn to glyphosate; equipping sprayers with low-drift nozzles and the...

The recent approval of the new dicamba products approved for use on Xtend soybean has been received with mix feelings by the agricultural community; many are excited about the new options to help with the growing herbicide resistance problem, whereas others are concerned about the risks...

The 2017 version of WC 94 - Herbicide guide for Iowa corn and soybean production - is now available. The guide includes several tables providing information on herbicide effectiveness, composition of package mixes, and herbicide sites of action. In addition the guide...

I’ll admit it, I enjoy the laughing weeds in Syngenta’s Acuron advertisements. The Acuron Chronicles remind me of something written by Dutch Sylwester more than 60 years ago. Dutch was ISU’s extension weed scientist from 1945 to 1975, and his...

The Crop Protection Network (CPN; www.cropprotectionnetwork.org) is a working group made up of state university and provincial Extension specialists, and public/private professionals. This group produces collaborative Extension outputs for...

The effect of cover crop on crop yields, soil health, and nitrate-nitrogen (N) leaching is complex and variable from year to year. From an environmental point of view, the higher the rye biomass production at termination day, the higher the likelihood of increasing soil organic carbon and...

Building on the success of the Inaugural Soil Health Conference in 2016, the second Soil Health Conference will be held in the Scheman Building at Iowa State University on February 16-17, 2017. This conference is organized by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, College of Agriculture...

Fall is a great time to take soil samples and test the soil to see where the nutrient levels are. The results of soil tests can help make critical management decisions for the next growing season. Soil testing starts with the soil sample. The small sample of soil collected serves as the basis...

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach is now offering an online review course for individuals taking the next Iowa Certified Crop Advisers Examination on February 3, 2017. This course is exclusively online and will not have a...

There is a lot of discussion lately about grain storage and quality. I wanted to make you aware of webinars that may be of interest to you. I was part of a regional project that organized a 4-part webinar series focused on stored grain IPM in the north central region. Here are the topics and...

One of the more popular pages on the old ISU Weed Science website was the Herbicide Ad Hall of Shame. It featured ads that I deemed went against Integrated Pest Management (IPM) principles. Recently, two of my colleagues nominated the attached ad that promotes the effectiveness of dicamba in...

A grower provided us a sample of the seed mix used on one of the conservation plantings where Palmer amaranth developed following planting. We were able to extract Amaranthus seed from the native seed mix. Since it is difficult, if not impossible, to visually differentiate the ...